


Dan and Pea

by Formula_Tea



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Broken Families, Bullying, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-01
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-07 02:50:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4246626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Formula_Tea/pseuds/Formula_Tea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(For lack of a more creative title)<br/>Dan's come to England to study physics at one of the best institutes in the world, and applied to live in one of his first year lectures' spare bedroom for the duration. Dan finds himself in the middle of a family going through a more difficult phase than he imagined and with his own life not as smooth and easy as he thought it would be when he made this decision.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome To England

_How’s England? ;) Miss you. X_

Dan grinned at the text as he waited in line for his baggage.

_Don’t know. Not out of the airport yet. Miss you too. Xxx._

It had been raining when he came in, but that had been three hours ago, getting stuck at boarder control for hours on end when it seemed like every border officer in the country needed to come and make sure he was actually supposed to be there. _And_ they’d managed to lose his luggage, which was why he was waiting in yet another queue. The guy who was supposed to be picking him up was going to have got bored and gone home by the time Dan actually made it out of arrivals.

After a long summer waiting to start university in the UK, Dan really should have been able to wait a little longer, but all he really wanted to do was to get down to learning something _interesting_. He’d thought when he applied to stay with one of the first year lecturers and his family that he might be able to get a bit of a head start but, now he’d actually gotten here, he was just thankful to have someone to drive him to a bed when he eventually got out of this place.

The person behind the counter gave him an apologetic smile and sorted his bags as quickly as possible. Apparently after spending so long at border control the bags had been moved onto lost property. It wasn’t that much longer until Dan was leaving the airport, scanning the crowd in arrivals for the lecturer, Felipe, who had come to pick him up.

Dan had chatted with the lecturer on Skype before he arrived and, though Felipe had tried to make the new student tell him a little about himself and his life, Dan just wanted to get into what he would be learning when he eventually arrived. That had made Felipe laugh, and the Brazilian had told him about the current projects he was working on, and the research opportunities at the end of the year. So Dan knew what the lecturer looked like and what he was supposed to be looking for when he was scanning the crowd, but he couldn’t find the Brazilian at all. Maybe he really had gone him.

Dan had no idea how to navigate England by himself. They spoke English in England, didn’t they?

“Daniel?”

Dan looked up at the sound of his name and found his lecturer beaming at him from the other side of the dividers. Dan ducked under the belt, a little taken aback at how short Felipe was, but he decided not to say anything.

“Do you need help with your bags?” Felipe asked, taking one of the suitcases Dan had brought with him and, with only a small handshake in greeting, lead Dan out of the airport. “Have had to top up the parking _three times_ since I arrived! What happened?”

“Umm, there was a problem at border control or something,” Dan said, rushing to keep up with Felipe.

“Ah, does not matter, as long as it is sorted now,” Felipe said, laughing. “You are going to be freezing dressed like that though. For sure, is not the nicest country in the world to live in, but is a good place for research, so we stay here.”

The Brazilian babbled none stop on the way to the car, not leaving enough time when he paused for breath for Dan to answer him, but Dan didn’t mind. Felipe turned up the heating in the car for Dan whilst the Australian piled his things onto the back seat and they set off.

“We are very excited to have you staying with us, Daniel,” Felipe said as they set off.

“Er, it’s just Dan,” Dan said, quickly, trying to warm up his hands a little.

“Yes, sorry,” Felipe said. “We are going out for dinner, if that is ok with you?”

“I don’t… actually have any money yet,” Dan said. He wasn’t sure when he was supposed to be getting his student loan and had been discussing with his boyfriend when he should approach the subject of borrowing money with the lecturer.

“Yes, but it is fine,” Felipe said. “Have been discussing with my wife. Think it is best if we just cover everything for the first couple of weeks, you know. For sure, it will not be much of a problem. As long as you do not eat like an elephant or something.”

“I can pay you back when my loan comes through,” Dan offered, thankful Felipe had brought the subject up first. He’d always been taught it was rude to ask for money, especially from strangers.

“Will be fine,” Felipe said. “Will have enough to pay for when you are paying for books. You have _seen_ the reading list for the first semester?” The lecturer let out a low whistle. “Am just glad I am not taking the course again, you know?”

Dan gulped. He hadn’t seen any reading list.

Felipe laughed at the look on the student’s face. “Do not worry. Will be able to find most of the books in the library. Though you will have to go soon, before somebody hides them. Is always one asshole who hides all the books.”

The car ride back to the Massa household was short, and Felipe managed to ramble all the way through, occasionally forgetting he was driving to wave his hands about and show Dan exactly what he meant. Dan grinned and nodded along, hooked on every word. He didn’t quite understand everything Felipe was saying when he got into his research project and the exciting new things his team in the labs were uncovering, but it still fascinated Dan. He was certain he was in the right place. Now, his university lecturer’s spare bedroom, tomorrow, CERN.

“Here we are,” Felipe said, pulling up outside a pleasant little semidetached house on the outskirts of town. The front garden had been paved over to make the drive way, but it was the kind of house that looked like it had a nice little garden to the rear, and Dan could easily imagine sitting out in the warm summer evenings. If there was such a thing as warm summer evenings in England. He made a mental note to text Sebastian and let him know the weather was bloody awful here, but that could wait.

Dan followed Felipe out of the car. When he made to grab his things from the back, Felipe waved him away and told him that could wait. He wanted to introduce Dan to two “very important people” first.

Felipe had already told Dan all about his wife and son, of course, but Dan didn’t really know what to expect when he followed his lecturer into the house. He was quite glad he didn’t have all his things with him, being lead into a narrow hallway where Felipe stopped to take his shoes off before telling Dan to wait there and disappearing through a door to Dan’s left.

Dan stood, awkwardly, in the narrow hallway. There wasn’t much to look at: cream walls and light brown carpets, a narrow staircase leading up to the rest of the house and a couple of wooden doors that looked freshly sanded. Presentable, but it didn’t really look like a home to Dan. Maybe the rest of the house would be…

“Ok,” Felipe said, poking his head back through the door he had disappeared through. “Are ready for you now.”

Felipe led him into a room that looked a lot more lived in. The living room was quite large, with comfy looking sofas and a couple of bean bags scattered on the floor. A half emptied toy box was hidden away in one corner with a messy bookshelf of colouring sets and sticker books. A woman – Felipe’s wife, Dan assumed – stood in the middle of the room, a little boy hiding behind her legs.

“You must be Daniel then?” she said, smiling warmly.

“Dan,” Felipe corrected her before Dan could, the Australian already being squeezed in a bone crushing hug. “This is my wife, Raffaela,” Felipe said as the woman stepped away. “And my son, Felipinho.”

Felipinho peeked out from behind his mother’s legs. He had his thumb in his mouth, which Raffaela removed as soon as she noticed. He looked up at Dan through half closed eyes, shuffling a little further back behind his mother when Dan crouched down to say hello.

“Do not be silly, Felipinho,” Felipe said with a small laugh. “Come and say hello.”

Raffaela stepped aside, removing Felipinho’s hiding place, and Dan spotted a little paper card in the boy’s other hand.

“Is that for me?” Dan asked.

Felipinho nodded, handing Dan the card quickly before running out of the door they had come in through and up the stairs.

Felipe sighed. “He is not so good at talking with other people,” he said. “Is very shy.”

“Must be weird,” Dan said, nodding as he looked down at the paper card before realising what he said. “I mean, for him. It must be weird for him, to have a stranger in his house. I ain’t saying he’s weird.”

Raffaela laughed. “No, is fine. Know what you mean. I will go and speak with him. Leave Felipe to help you with your bags.”

She was smiling as she followed her son up the stairs and Dan had realised he’d been in the Massa’s house a whole five minutes without offending anybody. He looked down at the paper card again, a hand drawn picture of what looked like people in party hats on the front. Scribbled in awful, five year old’s hand writing on the inside was what Dan guessed to say hello and some other words the Australian couldn’t quite figure out, Felipinho’s name at the bottom.

“You bring your things into the house and I will take them up the stairs,” Felipe suggested, snapping Dan out of his thoughts.

“Sure, yeah,” Dan said, putting the little card down on the arm of the sofa and following Felipe back outside.


	2. Settling In

“So this is your room,” Felipe said as Dan brought the last of the bags into the room. It wasn’t huge, but it was bigger than Dan had been expecting. Room enough for a bed and wardrobe and desk, with a window beside it that looked out of a messy back garden. There were shelves for book and an empty notice board pinned to the wall. “Was not sure what you would like, so tried to imagine what I would have liked going into my first year,” Felipe explained. “My office is just next door and the toilet is at the end of the hall. Is only you and Felipinho on this floor, so should not be too busy in the mornings or anything.”

“Thanks,” Dan said. It was better than he could have wanted it to be and all the jokes Sebastian had been making about living in a broom cupboard were a lot funnier now Dan didn’t have to worry about them being true.

“You like it?” Felipe asked, a little hesitant.

“It’s great, mate,” Dan said, grinning.

“Great,” Felipe said, returning the smile. “Is our first time doing something like this. So… will leave you to unpack, but I think Raffaela would like to go out to eat soon. Felipinho can get grumpy when he is hungry.”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Dan said, realising he had hardly eaten anything himself since getting on the plane in Germany. As he started thinking about it, his stomach gurgled, making Felipe laugh.

“Guess you would like to go soon too.”

 

Dan wasn’t sure what to expect of English cuisine, or whether he would even get traditional English cuisine as his hosts weren’t exactly typical Englishmen, but the restaurant they went to didn’t seem that bad to him. Buffet styled and family friendly, read the sign above the door. Dan didn’t miss the way Felipinho’s face lit up when he realised where they were going and he couldn’t stop himself laughing at that.

“It’s good here then?” Dan asked, following the Massas inside.

“Pretty good,” Raffaela said. “Felipinho seems to like it, don’t you sweetie?”

Felipinho nodded enthusiastically, looking up at his mother as she brushed her fingers through his hair. “Thank you mama.”

“Hmmm,” Raffaela said, whilst Felipe spoke to the waiter. “But we will have to stop coming if you so not start being a good boy.”

“You’re not naughty, are you?” Dan asked, crouching down in front of Felipinho to speak to him again, but Felipinho only hid behind his mother’s legs again.

A waiter showed the four of them to a small round table, where Dan found himself sitting between Felipe and Felipinho. Once they had collected their food – Felipinho’s plate piled high with pizza and chips and Dan wished he were still young enough to get away with that – the five year old kept glancing nervously up at Dan, as if he were scared the new comer was going to eat him or something. Dan just grinned, answering the questions about himself Felipe and Raffaela asked and trying to involve Felipinho in the conversation too, but the little boy didn’t say anything.

“So,” Raffaela said, eventually. “What makes you want to be a physicist, hmm? Because if you think it is a glamourous job with lots of money, you are wrong.”

“Ah, science is a labour of love, ain’t it?” Dan said. “Nah, I always wanted to be a scientist as a kid. Wanted to discover something new and I was good at maths and sh- good at maths and stuff so why not?”

“Do not have to convince us, Dan,” Felipe laughed. “Are on the course now. Cannot take it away.”

“What about you?” Dan asked, turning to Felipinho. “What do you want to do when you grow up?”

“Am going to be a footballer,” Felipinho mumbled, nibbling on a pizza crust.

“A footballer?” Dan said. “Wow, that’s exciting. I’m no good myself. You’ll have to teach me a trick or two, yeah?”

“I’m going to play for Barcelona, and for Brazil,” Felipinho explained slowly, actually looking at Dan this time, albeit hiding behind his pizza crust at the same time. “And first we have to win the champions league with Barcelona, and then we win the world cup with Brazil, and not lose really, really badly. Not even once. But I have to wait until I’m a grown up.”

“Oh, so he talks about football,” Dan laughed.

“He will talk about football to anybody if they give him half a chance,” Raffaela said. “Come on. Eat your pizza and then you can have ice cream.”

“Maybe you can help me convince him to be a scientist,” Felipe said.

“Science is boring and being a scientist is boring,” Felipinho said. “And you have to work all the time. And that’s boring too.”

“You see?” Felipe said, laughing. “When he is older he will figure out another job, I am sure.”

“No,” Felipinho said. “I’m going to be a footballer.”

“Well, if that’s what you want to do, kiddo,” Dan said. “It’s a lot of hard work though, especially if you’re going to be the best.”

“Practice every day,” Felipinho said, proudly. “Mama says, when I am a little bit bigger, I can join a proper team.”

Felipe rolled his eyes, tapping Felipinho’s plate with his fork and trying to get his son to eat again.

 

“Are you alright?” Raffaela asked as they left the restaurant. “Are you sure you have had enough, Daniel?”

“I’ve had plenty, thank you,” Dan said, grinning. He felt as if he was going to explode, managing to get away with plenty of ice cream refills without getting any judgmental looks from the Massas. If anything, Raffaela had just tried to get him to eat _more_ and now it physically hurt to move as they made their way back to the car.

Felipinho had gone back to hiding from Dan after his short burst of excitement about football but, when Dan smiled at him, he offered a weak smile in return.

Raffaela sat with her son in the back of the car, as she had done when they drove to the restaurant, but Dan still spun around, still trying to engage Felipinho in conversation.

“Did you make the card you gave me earlier?” he asked.

Felipinho nodded, snuggling sleepily against his mother beside him.

“It’s really cool,” Dan said. “You know what, I’ve already put it on my desk back home, and then whenever I’m working, it’s there.”

He wasn’t going to let on that he didn’t know what half of the words in it said. Felipinho didn’t need to know that. The child smiled happily, still trying to get into his mother’s lap somehow. Dan nodded, still grinning and trying to come up with something else to say, but his mind had gone blank.

“Has been very excited for you to come and meet him, haven’t you Felipinho?” Raffaela said, running her fingers through Felipinho’s hair.

“Really?” Dan said. “I was very excited to meet you too. It’ll be like having a little brother, yeah? Never had one of those.”

“A brother?” Felipinho asked, a little confused.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “Someone to have fun with. Do you think that would be alright?”

Felipinho thought for a moment, then nodded. “But only if you do not have to spend all of the time doing boring science work. Like Papa does.”

Dan laughed and glanced over to Felipe, surprised to not find the Brazilian laughing. “I’m probably going to have to do a lot of science work, mate, but I’ll make some time to have fun with you, yeah? You’ve got to teach me how to play football, haven’t you?”

 

Dan was trying to get unpacked when there was a knock at his bedroom door. He was sat in the middle of the floor with clothes scattered around him, trying to find something he had been sure he’d packed. He couldn’t have left it back at his mother’s place. What if his mum found it? What if his _dad_ found it?

He looked up at the knock at the door and called for whoever it was to come in whilst rooting through one of his cases. He couldn’t have lost it. Sebastian would never forgive him if he’d lost it.

“Looking for something?” Raffaela asked, looking down at the mess Dan was sat in the middle of.

“Yeah,” Dan said, not looking up when Raffaela came into the room, shaking out each shirt he’d packed in case it got caught up in one of the sleeves or something. “I have a… I have a bracelet…”

He never took it off. He _never_ took it off, because he knew something like _this_ would happen. But then they were funny about metal on planes, weren’t they, and he just wanted his flight from Germany to run as smoothly as possible. So he’d taken it off and then… then what?

“Let me see if I can help,” Raffaela said, kneeling on the floor amongst Dan’s things and taking one of the bags onto her lap. Dan just let her help, moving onto the next pile of clothes. It had to be in here _somewhere_. “Is this it?” Raffaela asked, lifting up the little gold chain she’d found in the front pocket of one of the bags.

Dan looked up, relief flooding his face as soon as he saw what Raffaela was holding.

“Yes, thank you,” Dan said, holding out his hand for Raffaela to drop the bracelet into. He put it around his wrist, back where it belonged, and made a silent promise to himself to never take it off again.

“No problem,” Raffaela said with a smile. “Is it… important?”

“From my boyfriend,” Dan said, quietly, fiddling a little with the clasp. He knew it was going to be difficult spending so long living so far away from Sebastian, but he had to do what was best for his career, and Sebastian had agreed. They were spending Christmas together in Germany, and then the summer, if Dan couldn’t get an internship somewhere. Dan had promised to make it up to Sebastian when they eventually got to spend time together.

“Ah,” Raffaela said with a smile. “Very important then.”

Dan nodded, looking down at the bracelet again before looking up at Raffaela. “I should get this all sorted out.”

“Yeah,” Raffaela said, standing and dusting herself down a little. “I just wanted to come and tell you that Felipinho is in bed, so could you keep it down when you’re up here.”

“Yeah, sure,” Dan said. The toddler had looked exhausted on the way home, and Dan was surprised he’d even managed to stay awake until they got home.

“Are really good with him,” Raffaela said. “We were a little worried, you know. Know you said before you came that you would not have a problem with him, but some people say this just so they can have the place to stay. But you are not like that.”

“He’s awesome,” Dan said, grinning.

“We are glad you think so,” Raffaela said, smiling back. “Well, should leave you to unpack. Call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” Dan said again, watching Raffaela go before turning to the mess he was sat amongst. Fresh start. He was going to make this work.


	3. Classroom Tears

“Hey.”

“Good morning, sleepy head,” Dan said, beaming. It was ten in the morning, and Sebastian was an hour ahead of him. The German shouldn’t still have been asleep, Dan thought.

Sebastian groaned a little but still grinned, happy to see his boyfriend’s face, even if it was only through a computer screen.

“Good morning,” he said. “Everything went ok in England?”

“It went super, mate,” Dan said. “Let me show you around my room.”

“A room?” Sebastian asked as Dan picked his laptop up. “You are not shoved in the broom closet then?”

“Nope,” Dan said, happily, turning the computer around and walking slowly around the room. He still had some unpacking to do, just wanting to get the basics sorted before he went to sleep the night before, but the room was beginning to feel like home already. Besides the weather, Dan knew he was going to love it here. “You like it.”

“I’d like it more if I was there with you,” Sebastian said, and the German had a cheeky grin on his face when Dan sat back down at the desk, Felipinho’s card waving a little in the small breeze the action created.

“Naughty Seb,” Dan scolded.

“Just a little,” Sebastian said. “What is it like there then, anyway?”

“Pretty good, I think,” Dan said. “My lecturer and his family seem alright. The weather’s bloody freezing. Even colder than at yours.”

Sebastian laughed at that, never getting bored of his boyfriend’s constant complaints about the weather. Cold weather in Germany only meant Dan wanted more snuggles and warming up, though, and Sebastian wasn’t in England to help with any of those kinds of problems.

“I am sure you will get used to it,” Sebastian said.

“I better,” Dan said, though he didn’t think he would like just accepting the cold weather.

“Right, so when does your course start?” Sebastian asked. “And do you know what your time table is yet?”

“Not yet,” Dan said. “I’ve got to get that over the weekend. And I don’t start until next week.”

“So you’ve plenty of time to go exploring England,” Sebastian said. “And to buy me my first present.”

“Why don’t I send you back some authentic British rain,” Dan said, looking past the laptop to the raindrops splattering against his window. “There’s plenty of that here.”

“Oh, stop moaning about the weather,” Sebastian scolded with a grin. “You sound too British.”

“I’ll be sitting here with a top hat and drinking tea with the Queen before you know it,” Dan said, drinking from a pretend cup and sticking his little finger out as far as it would go.

“Don’t you dare,” Sebastian warned. “I want my little Aussie Dan back at Christmas. Don’t let the British take him.”

“I’ll try,” Dan said, grinning.

“What are you planning on doing today?” Sebastian asked.

“Finish unpacking,” Dan said, glancing over to the messy pile of clothes he’d left on the floor. “Not much else. Got nothing to do.”

“I could give you something to do,” Sebastian suggested, his face one of pure innocence. “You like it when I give you ideas of things to do.”

“I don’t really think that’s a good idea right now, Seb,” Dan said, cringing a little as he said it. He didn’t want Felipe or Raffaela to come in whilst Sebastian was _entertaining_ him. Not on the first day he was here. He’d be kicked out for sure.

“Oh,” Sebastian said, pouting a little. “Why not? Want to have fun, Dan?”

“I know you do, mate,” Dan said, softly.

“Maybe I’ll just have to entertain myself,” Sebastian said with a wicked grin. Dan couldn’t see his hands off camera, but he was pretty sure he knew what his boyfriend would be doing. “Would you like me to move to the bed, Daniel?”

“Seb,” Dan whined. He glanced back at his own door, closed but not locked. He was pretty sure it didn’t even have a lock and maybe he should ask about that…

When he turned back to the laptop, Sebastian was sat on his bed, the camera angle suggesting his own computer was sat on the mattress in front of him. The German made a show of taking off his shirt, pulling faces Dan knew he should laugh at, but all he could manage was another quiet whine.

“Seb, don’t.”

“You don’t like it?” Sebastian asked, the pout on his face whist his hand brushed up his chest.

“You know I do, mate, but don’t,” Dan said. It wasn’t fair. He wanted to be there, or for Sebastian to be here, but trying to convince the German to come to England with him had been useless. “Seb, please.”

“Oh fine,” Sebastian said, giving up. “I hope you’re not going to be like this at Christmas.”

“I promise I won’t be like this at Christmas,” Dan said with a slightly relieved grin. He already had a mental countdown until the first term of university finished. He still hadn’t brought his tickets back to Germany to go and see his boyfriend, but he’d already budgeted for them. “Can’t wait to see you again.”

“Me neither,” Sebastian said. “Miss you already.”

“I miss you too.”

 

“Do you need any help?” Dan said, finding Raffaela in the kitchen chopping vegetables. If he was going to be living for free, the least he could do would be to help with the cooking. Not that he thought he would really be much “help”.

“No thank you Daniel,” Raffaela said.

“Dan,” Dan corrected her automatically. “Sorry, I just… prefer Dan.”

“Is fine,” Raffaela said, grinning. “Will try to remember in future.”

“Thanks,” Dan said. “What are you making?”

“Is just a stir fry,” Raffaela said. “Do not really know why I bother. Felipinho will not eat it and Felipe will not eat until late. He is working today. So will just be me and you. Unless you are going out…”

“And miss your cooking?” Dan said, even though he hadn’t actually tasted any of the Brazilian’s food yet. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll eat with you. If you don’t mind.”

“Will be plenty,” Raffaela said. “I heard you talking earlier. To your boyfriend?”

“Oh,” Dan said, swallowing a little. It was suddenly very hot in the little kitchen. He and Seb hadn’t really gotten up to anything, just chatted about Dan’s flight over, the book he was reading on the plane, what they thought Sebastian’s room would be like when he got to university. But it was strange being asked about him. It was strange anybody actually acknowledging the fact that Sebastian existed. “Yeah,” Dan said, when he realised Raffaela was waiting for an answer. “He just wanted to know I’ve settled in alright. Nothing to worry about, I told him. Except the weather.”

“Hmmm,” Raffaela said, nodding as she turned back to her dinner preparations. “Is a lot to get used to, this weather. Took a very long time to get used to it. Is not so bad now, because it is only just gone into the Autumn. But in the winter, it is unbearable.”

“Not looking forward to that,” Dan muttered. Even though he was spending the Christmas break, he was pretty sure it wasn’t that warm there either. Maybe it would be better than England, but not by much.

“Yes but you do it anyway,” Raffaela said. “For science.”

“For science,” Dan said. It would all be worth it when he was working on some of the most ground breaking projects in the world, he was sure of it. “When do you have to pick up Felipinho?” Dan asked. He’d gotten the impression the night before Raffaela wasn’t too fond of talking about science, after she’d sat bored whilst her husband and Dan had sunk further and further into that side of the conversation, and he didn’t want to bore his host even more now.

“Have to leave in about half an hour,” Raffaela said, not looking up from her knife. “You can come also, if you would like that. I’m sure Felipinho would.”

“You’re sure?” Dan asked. He’d got the impression the night before that the little boy didn’t really like him that much, except when he was talking about football, which Dan knew nothing about.

“He likes you,” Raffaela said. “As much as he likes anybody. Is a very funny child. But I think he would like it if you came. Only if you wanted to. We could go around afterwards and we can show you all the sights, if you would like.”

“Sounds awesome,” Dan said. If he was going to get a free tour of the place afterwards, it couldn’t be that bad. “Do we pass the university?”

Raffaela nodded. “Have to go through the university to get anywhere. When the term starts again, will have to leave even earlier because students, they walk so slow, you know. You will be one of those slow walkers soon. Felipinho likes to make car noises, tries to make them go faster.”

“Cool,” Dan said. He hadn’t really seen the university yet, only through the digital tours on the website, and getting a look around whilst there weren’t students bustling and bumping about would probably be useful. Having someone who knew what they were doing showing him around would be even more useful.

 

Felipinho was sat in the chair beside the door, swinging his legs a little with his thumb in his mouth. The teacher looked down at him wearily whilst she let all the other children out and Felipinho pushed himself further back in the chair, trying to make himself smaller. It was only when the rest of his class had left that Raffaela knew something was wrong. She sighed, telling Daniel to wait where he was stood, before going over to see what the teacher wanted.

Felipinho stopped swinging his legs when he saw his mother, tears swimming in his eyes.

“Is there a problem?” Raffaela asked, as if she didn’t know. As if there wasn’t always a problem.

The teacher offered Raffaela a worn out smile, but it didn’t help at all. Felipinho could feel his mother glaring at him even though he wasn’t looking at her, and he shuddered to try to keep himself from crying.

“Would you like to follow me?” the teacher asked, and they went through the usual routine of going into the classroom whilst one of the teaching assistants waited in the cloakroom with Felipinho. The teaching assistance were always young and smiley, but Felipinho hated them. He didn’t smile back.

_“And of course this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. On its own it might not seem very important but adding to last week’s incidents and the week before, we really do think this is much more of an issue, Mrs Massa. Felipinho just doesn’t get on with the other children. He makes no attempt to get on with the other children. And if he were to just keep to himself we wouldn’t be so concerned but…”_

_“I understand.”_

_“Sometimes children take a while to settle down, we know, but after seeing the reports from his nursery I really think there might be something more seriously wrong with your son.”_

_“Wrong?”_

_“Not wrong as such. Different. Have you thought about taking him to see a doctor? He might have some behavioural problem which medication might be able to solve.”_

_“He’s not sick.”_

_“No, but there might be something there. It’s worth looking into. If there’s something hindering Felipinho’s progress that can be solved, it’s better to see a professional sooner rather than later. There’s nothing wrong with it. Plenty of children have conditions.”_

The teaching assistant closed the door to the classroom properly and then Felipinho couldn’t hear anymore. She smiled down at him again and asked if he wanted any water, but he just shook his head. He just wanted to go home.

 

Dan waited where Raffaela had told him to until all the other parents had gone home and the playground was empty. One of the cleaners had started working with a litter picker and Dan felt awkward as he stood with his hands in his pockets, hoping he hadn’t been forgotten.

Eventually Raffaela came out of the door she had disappeared through, holding onto Felipinho’s hand tightly. Dan didn’t even have to look at Felipinho to know it was bad, the look on Raffaela’s face saying it all. There were little tears rolling down Felipinho’s face and Dan’s first instinct was to make sure the child was ok, but the look on Raffaela’s face gave him the impression Felipinho might have brought the tears on himself and Dan decided his best bet was to ignore it all.

“Dan?” Felipinho asked when he and his mother reached where Dan was waiting.

“I am sorry Dan,” Raffaela said as she marched through the gates, hoping Dan would follow behind her. “Would we be able to do your walk another day?”

“Sure,” Dan said. The temptation to ask what had happened was almost too much, but Dan kept the question on the tip of his tongue to himself.


	4. Evening Meals

“What is for dinner?” Felipinho asked, quietly, standing on his toes so he could watch his mother dish up the food.

“Stir fry,” Raffaela said. She hadn’t really said much since they’d returned home from school, and the atmosphere had been a little too thick for Dan. He’d disappeared back to his room, only re-emerging when Raffaela came and told him she would be serving.

Felipinho fell back down from the tips of his toes and spun around. “Don’t like it.”

“Then you will have to starve,” Raffaela said, but she knew she was fighting a losing battle.

“Want a sandwich,” Felipinho said.

“You will not get anything like that if you talk to me like that,” Raffaela warned, putting the pan back onto the cooker and looking down at the food she had cooked, knowing the plastic plate of noodles and vegetables was going to go to waste.

“Could I have a sandwich _please_?” Felipinho said, quietly.

“You don’t want some of your mum’s cooking?” Dan asked, deciding he might be able to help Raffaela.

Felipinho stood completely still when he realised Dan was talking to him, looking up at his mother for Raffaela to answer for him, but she said nothing.

Felipinho shook his head, hiding his face behind his hands.

“I bet it tastes great,” Dan said.

“Don’t like it,” Felipinho said. “Like peanut butter sandwiches and that’s it.”

“You are going to turn into a peanut butter sandwich,” Raffaela mumbled as she took the bread from the bread bin, sloppily making the sandwich and taking another plastic plate from the cupboard to put it on. “Here.”

“Thank you, mama,” Felipinho said with a small smile, taking it into his playroom to eat.

Raffaela sighed, annoyed at herself for giving in again, then wiped her hair out of her face and put on her best smile, handing a plateful of food to Dan.

“It smells great,” Dan said, hoping that might help a little.

“Thank you,” Raffaela said, following Dan into the living room where they could sit and eat with their food on their laps. “Had a great big dining table once. Wanted to have all our meals there as a family. But now Felipinho would rather eat in his playroom and Felipe is hardly ever hear for dinner. Did not seem like much point.”

Dan nodded, his mouth already full of food but he wanted to show he was paying attention. Raffaela sighed and smiled again before digging her own fork into her food.

 _Well_ , Dan thought. _It looks like you’ve been accepted as part of the family._

Felipinho was in bed by the time his father returned from work and, if this was a common occurrence, Dan thought he understood why the little one thought science was so boring.

Dan had sat with Raffaela for a little while, not wanting to seem rude and disappear to his room straight away after Raffaela had fed him for free for two days in a row now. But, when Raffaela had noticed how bored Dan looked, she’d insisted he go and do whatever it was she was stopping him from doing. So Dan was sat in his room playing video games when his lecturer came back from work. His hosts’ rather loud conversation floated up the stairs, but he couldn’t understand a word they were saying anyway, so he stuck his ear phones into his ears and tried to focus on the game.

 

Raffaela caught Felipe in the hallway, standing with her arms folded across her chest and stopping Felipe from disappearing into the rest of the house. Felipe rolled his eyes as he hung up his coat.

“Had to go in and speak to Felipinho’s teacher again,” Raffaela said.

“What has he done this time?” Felipe said.

“Is not sharing,” Raffaela said. “Hurt another child when they wanted to play with him.”

“He’ll grow out of it,” Felipe said. He made a mental note to speak to his son about it in the morning, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

“Do not want him to just _grow out of it_ ,” Raffaela snapped, following Felipe through the living room and into the kitchen when he pushed past her. “Want him to know what is right and what is wrong but he does not understand.”

“What can we do other than what we are already doing?” Felipe asked, sticking the food Raffaela had prepared earlier into the microwave to heat it up.

“The teacher says he might have a condition,” Raffaela said, standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room so Felipe wouldn’t be able to run away from her when his food was hot. “Says we should take him to a doctor in case he has something that makes him act like he does.”

“Is nothing wrong with him,” Felipe said. “Is only like he is because you spoil him.”

“Because _I spoil_ him?” Raffaela cried. “This is _my_ fault?”

“Well it is not mine,” Felipe snapped back.

“Of course not,” Raffaela said. “You are never here enough to have any influence on him at all.”

“And it comes back to this again,” Felipe said. “What do you want me to do? Cannot exactly stop working, can I? Or would you like us to be out on the streets? What do I do, Raffaela?”

“Am not asking you to do anything,” Raffaela said. “Just thought maybe you would be interested in your son’s life, seeing as you are barely a part of it.”

 

Dan frowned when he heard a creak out on the landing, pulling his earphones out of his ears and shifting over a little to see onto the landing, where Felipinho was peering down the stairs. He had his thumb in his mouth again, and little tears trickled down his face.

Dan gulped. That probably wasn’t such a good thing.

He put his laptop down on the bed and crept to the bedroom door, watching Felipinho and trying to make sure the child didn’t hear him. He still had no idea what Felipe and Raffaela were saying to one another, but he could tell by the way they were speaking that it wasn’t anything good.

“Are you alright?” Dan asked when he was stood in his bedroom doorway, making Felipinho jump.

The little boy turned to face him, his thumb still in his mouth.

“What’s the matter?” Dan asked as Felipinho began to back into his room. “Do you want me to go and fetch mama or papa for you? To tuck you back in?”

Felipinho shook his head, quickly, hesitating a little when Dan came closer.

“Do you… do you want _me_ to tuck you back in?” Dan asked, uncertainly.

Felipinho thought for a moment, the hand that wasn’t stuck in his mouth fiddling with the bottom of his pyjama top, then nodded. That sounded like a good idea to him.

 

“Alright then,” Dan said, smiling as warmly as he could and following the toddler into his bedroom. The room was a little smaller than Dan’s, a fire truck shaped bed taking up most of the space in the room, with hand drawn pictures of things Dan couldn’t quite make out decorating the walls. If he’d been able to decorate his own room when he’d been five, it probably would have looked like this.

Felipinho wriggled back under the Ninja Turtles duvet, looking up at Dan expectantly. Once Dan had finished admiring the room, he came over, tucking the five year old up tightly before tickling Felipinho under the chin and making him laugh a little.

“There you are,” Dan said. “Now, what are these tears there for then? Is there a monster under your bed? Because I am the best monster tickler in the world and they’ll never come back once I’m finished with them.”

Felipinho giggled again when Dan tickled him again, but the laughter quickly disappeared when a door slammed shut downstairs and footsteps could be heard on the staircase. Whoever was coming upstairs didn’t stop on their floor, marching right up to the top floor.

Felipinho let out a shaky breath.

“Mama and papa are angry at me,” he said, quietly.

“Of course they’re not angry at you,” Dan said. “That’s just silly.”

“Are,” Felipinho said. “Angry because I keep getting into trouble and because miss keeps asking mama to come and talk to her.”

“Well,” Dan said, not sure what to say now. “You probably shouldn’t keep getting into trouble all the time, little man, but I’m sure it’s not your fault mama and papa are angry.”

“Can’t help it,” Felipinho said. “I try to be good, Dan. Really, really hard.”

Dan laughed, pretty sure he could remember saying the exact same thing to his parents. Fresh tears began to appear in Felipinho’s eyes and Dan wiped them with his thumb, biting his lip. He didn’t really know what to say.

“They’re not angry at you,” Dan promised. “Now, you need to go to sleep, alright. You’ve got a big day of playing coming up tomorrow.”

He smiled again, ruffling the toddler’s hair before leaving the room. He peered down the stairs, where the lights were still on and he knew one of Felipinho’s parents was still down there. Dan hovered on the landing, not sure if he should go down and make sure everything was alright.

No, he decided against that. He didn’t know the Massas, and their lives weren’t really anything to do with him. Glancing back at Felipinho’s closed bedroom door, Dan crossed the hallway and disappeared into his own bedroom.


	5. University Tour

Dan sat beside a very quiet Felipinho at breakfast. Felipe had been out before Dan had even managed to drag himself out of bed, the student coming down stairs to find Felipinho sat in front of cartoons on the television with a bowl of soggy cereal in front of him. Dan was watching Raffaela in the kitchen, trying to figure out what she was doing and why she needed to be so loud about it.

“Are you alright?” Dan asked, bringing his empty bowl into the kitchen.

“Yes, Daniel, I am fine,” Raffaela said, scrubbing at one of the counter tops.

“Are you… sure?” Dan asked, slowly, not sure what to do with his bowl when Raffaela was cleaning, so standing awkwardly with the thing.

“I am fine,” Raffaela said. She span around and smiled, and it was clear to Dan that this was the end of the conversation. Uncertainly, Dan placed the bowl down on the spotless kitchen counter. “I was thinking we should show you around the university today. Unless you have something else to do.”

“Nope, I’ve got nothing,” Dan said, smiling back. “Sounds great to me.”

He knew he should really say something about the night before, but he also knew he didn’t know the Massas anywhere near enough to talk about something so personal. For all he knew, it could have been a very minor thing, and bringing it up would only make things worse for everyone.

“Great,” Raffaela said, beaming. “So if we go at about half past ten. This should give me enough time to get Felipinho away from the cartoons.”

She poked her head into the living room to see how her son was doing, but he was still staring gormlessly at the television, a spoonful of cereal halfway between his bowl and his mouth.

“Sorry about yesterday,” Raffaela said, returning to the kitchen. “I just wanted to get home, you know.”

“It’s fine,” Dan said, trying to keep out of Raffaela’s way as she hurried around the kitchen again. “Really, you don’t have to do this at all, so that’s pretty awesome.”

Raffaela laughed a little and sighed, leaning against the counter. “You do not have to act so… grateful all the time Daniel,” she said.

“I am grateful,” Dan said, grinning. “Can’t help that.”

 

Felipinho held onto his mother’s hand tightly as he could as he walked in silence to the university. Dan watched the little boy kick stones along the pavement, going out of his way to get the same one every time and dragging his mother along with him. Dan couldn’t tell if Felipinho was ignoring him on purpose or just focusing so much on keeping the stone on the path to even pay Dan any attention, but Felipinho hadn’t said a word to him all day and Dan got the feeling the little boy had gotten his shyness back.

“This is about as warm as you will get in England,” Raffaela said, noticing Dan seemed to be wearing at least two jumpers. “It is not so bad.”

“No where near as warm as home though,” Dan said, rubbing his hands together.

“I guess not,” Raffaela said, before almost tripping over as Felipinho dived across the path to get the stone. “Felipinho, will you be careful.”

“Have to get the stone, mama,” Felipinho said in explanation, jumping back to the other side to get the stone again.

“Yes, but be careful,” Raffaela said.

Dan watched the stone dart over towards him and he jumped out of the way so he didn’t crash into Felipinho. He grinned as the toddler didn’t even notice the near miss, sticking his tongue out in concentration.

“You’ll bite it out if you’re not careful,” Dan said, but Felipinho didn’t even hear him.

“Felipinho, Daniel is speaking to you,” Raffaela said.

“Is _Dan_ , mama,” Felipinho said, not looking up from the stone. “Not _Daniel_.”

“Don’t be cheeky,” Dan said, trying not to laugh.

“Sorry,” Felipinho mumbled, still not looking up.

Raffaela sighed and shook her head, but she still had a smile on her face.

“It is not far from the house,” Raffaela said. “Which I suppose is useful for you. Though maybe if you manage to get up early enough Felipe will drive you.”

“He sets out pretty early then?” Dan asked. He hadn’t even seen his lecturer that morning, but he hadn’t exactly gotten up early either.

“Sets out early, comes back late,” Raffaela rolled her eyes. “Never marry a scientist, Daniel. Marry a car salesman. They work less hours and probably earn more than Felipe does.”

“I’ll try to remember that for the future,” Dan said, grinning. Maybe that was what the argument the night before had been about. He had no idea, and no way of finding out without asking, but he wasn’t going to do that any time soon.

“What does your boyfriend do?” Raffaela asked.

“Oh, he’s studying too,” Dan said. “Engineering. So nothing exciting there either.”

Dan had never really been interested in cars himself, but he would sit and listen in fascination as Sebastian got over excited at one thing or another, loving the excitement and enthusiasm on his boyfriend’s face. If it made Sebastian happy, Dan was all for it.

“You don’t need to study to be a footballer,” Felipinho announced.

“No, but you still must do well at school,” Raffaela said.

“School is boring,” Felipinho said.

“You find a lot of things boring, don’t you mate,” Dan said, ruffling Felipinho’s hair.

“Uh huh,” Felipinho said, not looking up from the stone he was _still_ kicking along.

“Can you stop that, Felipinho,” Raffaela said, tugging on Felipinho’s hand and making him miss the stone. Felipinho stuck his bottom lip out when his mother wouldn’t let him go back to get the stone, marching along at her side. “We can go to the park when we’ve finished showing Daniel around, ok?”

“It’s _Dan_ ,” Felipinho said, moodily.

“Don’t be cheeky to your mum,” Dan reminded him. He offered his hand for Felipinho to take. The child looked at it for a couple of seconds, then shuffled a little closer to his mother, apparently forgetting about how disappointed he was at having lost the stone.

“Look,” Raffaela said, pointing to one of the buildings they passed. “Why don’t you tell Dan where this is?”

Felipinho looked up at the building and shook his head, sticking his thumb in his mouth. Raffaela sighed and took her son’s thumb out of his mouth.

“This was Felipinho’s old nursery, wasn’t it?” she said. “Before you went to big school.”

“Is it nice there?” Dan asked, bending over to speak to Felipinho.

The child nodded, shuffling a little closer to his mother again.

“You haven’t gone shy again, have you?” Dan asked, laughing.

Felipinho didn’t answer this time, looking down at the floor.

“It is run by the university,” Raffaela explained, leading Felipinho and Dan on down a street named “University Road”. “For children of staff and students. Is free, which is nice. Was a good nursery. Put up well with this one.”

They went on past the nursery towards a pedestrian area Dan recognised from the online virtual tours.

“And this is Papa’s work, isn’t it Felipinho?” Raffaela said.

Felipinho nodded again, looking up at the buildings. He pointed to one beside a little pond, three stories tall and made mostly of grey concrete. “That one,” he said. “Can we go in and see Papa?”

“You know we can’t see Papa when he’s working, sweetie,” Raffaela said, gently. “But that’s the research offices and physics offices, I think. You will not have to be there too much, I do not think. I think most of your lectures are over this way. In maths and physics, yes?”

Raffaela wasn’t a bad tour guide, showing Dan around the quiet university campus whilst Felipinho walked alongside her, dragging his feet and looking for more stones to kick along. Thankfully, the campus looked a lot like the virtual campus tour Dan had taken a dozen times when he was back in Germany, not wanting to get lost on his first day, and the Australian had a rough idea where everything was.

“Is easy enough to fit in here, I think,” Raffaela said once she finished showing Dan the Food Plaza. “I think you will have fun.”

“I hope so,” Dan said. “So, do you do tours a lot?”

“I help out on open days and things,” Raffaela said. “When I do not have this little one. I like to see all the new students when they are all excited about starting. Not after week two when they look like something from a zombie apocalypse.”

“Mama, can we go to the park now?” Felipinho complained, getting bored. They’d already walked around the entire university. It _had_ to be time to go to the park soon.

“Yes, we are going there now,” Raffaela said. “You can go home, Daniel, if you like. You do not need to come with us.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Dan said, not wanting to admit that he probably couldn’t remember the way back to the house. “I’ve got nothing better to do.”

“Great,” Raffaela said, smiling to let Dan know it wasn’t any kind of intrusion. Dan grinned back, walking half a step behind Raffaela and Felipinho as they made their way to the park. Felipinho had stopped dragging his feet now, bouncing along at his mother’s side and swinging from her arm.

“Calm down,” Dan laughed. “You’re going to wear yourself out before we even get there.”

“Will you push me on the swings, Dan?” Felipinho asked, looking up at Dan for the first time since they left the house.

“You can push yourself, Felipinho,” his mother said. “You are a big boy now.”

“Please, Dan,” Felipinho said, ignoring his mother. “Just one push.”

“Just one push to get you started,” Dan promised. “Then you can do it on your own.”

 

The park was surprisingly empty. If this really was what an alright day in England was like, Dan thought there would be a lot more children in the playground, but there was only a little girl and her mother and Felipinho.

Dan sat down on the little bench beside Raffaela once Felipinho was content on the swings. He’d pushed a couple more times than he promised, but Raffaela was still smiling as she watched her son go backwards and forwards. Dan grinned. It had been ages since he’d gone to a park of any kind, and it brought back fond memories.

“Mama, look how high I can go!” Felipinho called over, pushing himself to try and get even higher.

“Be careful!” Raffaela called with a small wave, sighing and shaking her head when Felipinho tried to wave back.

“Well, this was worth the walk for him, I guess,” Dan said, not sure what he should say but not liking the silence.

“Hmm,” Raffaela said, smiling. “Am surprised he did not try to con us into bringing a ball. We would never have been able to get him home then.”

“So…” Dan said, slowly. “Felipe Senior’s obsessed with work, Felipe Junior’s obsessed with football. What about you? What do you spend all your time doing?”

Dan had noticed he didn’t actually know that much about Raffaela. He’d talked a lot about himself, encouraged to do so, but Raffaela hadn’t said much about herself, and Felipe had only really mentioned her briefly when he and Dan had spoken over Skype. It seemed polite to ask his host about herself.

“What do _I_ do?” Raffaela laughed. “I do not get _time_ to do things, Daniel. I look after those two.”

“Yeah, but you haven’t been a mum all your life,” Dan said. “There must have been something before Felipinho.”

“Yes, but this is a long time ago, Daniel,” Raffaela said with a smile. “I am happy being Felipinho’s mama.”

“Alright,” Dan said, grinning. “What did you want to do when you were Felipinho’s age?”

They both glanced over to the toddler, who had now climbed to the top of the slide and was trying to steady himself before pushing himself down.

“When I was Felipinho’s age?” Raffaela said, slowly, looking up to the sky for inspiration. “When I was Felipinho’s age, I wanted to be an astronaut.”

“Wow,” Dan said. “That’s some dream.”

Raffaela nodded. “Then I get older and I decided maybe just an astronomer, you know. Was actually studying astronomy when I met Felipe.”

“Stars are pretty cool,” Dan said. “So, like, if you discovered a new planet, what would you call it?”

“A new planet?” Raffaela said. She leaned back against the fencing that enclosed the playground. “Probably something boring like X-oh-42-zed-zed-zed.”

“Yeah, but what about the proper name,” Dan prompted. “Like Mars or something.”

“I don’t know,” Raffaela said. “I used to have a list, when I was a little girl, of all the things I would name stars and planets. I think I might still have it, if it didn’t get thrown away when I moved.”

“So how come you aren’t an astronomer?” Dan asked. “Felipinho?”

“No,” Raffaela said. “No, I had a job in an observatory when Felipinho was born. But then we moved because Felipe got a better job. He looked after Felipinho until he was three, and now I will until he settles down at school.”

“That must have been such a cool job!” Dan said, enthusiastically. “With parents like you and Felipe, how did this one end up not liking science?”

He nodded over to Felipinho as the child raced back over to the swing sets.

“Did you not know that being a footballer is actually a “billion million” times more interesting than being a boring scientist?” Raffaela said.

“Dan!” Felipinho called from where he was trying to push himself on to he swings. “Dan, can you give me a push? Just one?”

Dan glanced over at Raffaela, wanting to make sure it was ok with the mother first, before he jumped up to go and push Felipinho on the swing.


	6. Induction Part One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm six chapters in and Dan has only just started university. Oops. Rereading through this now, it is pretty much the exact same as my induction day. But with more adorable children. And less rocks.

“So it is official now?” Sebastian said with a grin as Dan pulled his student ID card away from the camera. The Australian couldn’t help but grin down at it again, before putting it safely back in his wallet. “I am officially dating a dork.”

“You’ve always been officially dating a dork,” Dan said. “Now you’re officially dating an official dork.”

“Ah,” Sebastian said, leaning his chin against his hand and grinning at Dan. Dan grinned back, happy to sit in silence and stare at Sebastian for a while if that was the German’s plan. Sebastian sighed. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Dan said, quietly, fiddling with the bracelet around his wrist.

“When do you start?” Sebastian asked.

“I have some induction thing on Wednesday,” Dan said, looking at the time table he’d been given when he went to collect his ID card. “And then I start on Monday.”

“A week before me then,” Sebastian said, grinning. “Hey, no chatting up pretty little English boys during Fresher’s week.”

“I promise,” Dan said. “There’s only one pretty little European boy for me.”

He grinned at the blush that rose in Sebastian’s cheeks. It was so easy to get a reaction from his boyfriend, but Dan loved it every time.

“Only eighty two more days until you fly back to me, though,” Sebastian said.

“You have a count down already too?” Dan laughed. He didn’t really like the fact that he already had his set up. It felt like he’d been counting down to coming to England for so long, he didn’t want to start another count down already, even if it was to go and see his boyfriend again. He wanted to enjoy what he’d been counting down to.

“Of course I do,” Sebastian said. “Can’t wait to see you again.”

“Will you wait at the airport for me?” Dan asked.

“Of course,” Sebastian said, grinning. “Can’t leave you to navigate Germany by yourself. Then where would you end up?”

The first time Dan had arrived in Germany, Sebastian had been working late. Dan had insisted he’d be able to make it to the little town where his boyfriend had lived without a guide. It had taken him three days to get back to the airport he had started at…

“I’ll be better next time,” Dan said. “And I’ll have money.”

“When this loan of yours comes through,” Sebastian said. “I guess the Massas went along with the loan thing?”

“Yeah,” Dan said.

“Your lecturer is really nice,” Sebastian mumbled. “I bet mine’s not as nice as that.”

“I’ve barely seen him since I got here,” Dan said. Felipe had spent most of the weekend out and for the first time it hit Dan just how busy he would be if he ever got a job in the field. It didn’t seem like as much fun as he thought it would be. Of course, he didn’t get to see what Felipe was doing when he spent the entire day at work. Dan figured the long hours would be worth it if it was for something fun.

“You’ll hate the sight of him by the time you finish his class,” Sebastian teased. “What does he teach?”

“Physics,” Dan said with a grin.

“Smart ass,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes.

“You love it.”

 

“Felipinho, hurry up or you are going to be late for school!”

It had become the morning routine and Dan was getting used to it. He stood in the kitchen with his second mug of coffee of the day. Felipe was driving him in today so he could sit through his induction. He had a bag full of things at his feet and he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to need most of it but it was better to be safe than sorry. Pens, pencils, calculator, protractor… Felipe had insisted that it was just a formality thing and Dan wouldn’t be expected to actually _do_ anything, but he’d wanted to make sure he was prepared for anything.

“Did you brush your teeth?” Raffaela asked as Felipinho came down the stairs.

“Yes, mama,” Felipinho said, letting Raffaela check his breath with a cheeky grin on his face that made Dan laugh.

Raffaela frowned, not trusting the positive test, but left him to it.

“Alright then,” she said. “Go and get your school jumper.”

“I don’t want it.”

“It is not warm enough for no jumper,” Raffaela said. “Go and get it.”

Felipinho huffed, annoyed, but turned back around and went to go and get his school jumper from upstairs.

“Well, that is not a happy face,” Felipe remarked as he passed his son on the stairs. He was in a good mood as he came through into the kitchen, stopping to kiss Raffaela on the cheek as he passed. “Are you ready to go Dan?”

“All set,” Dan said, picking up his bag. He was suddenly very nervous. He knew there was nothing to be nervous about, but that didn’t really help right now.

“Told you, you do not need all of that,” Felipe said, laughing.

“Better to be-.”

“Safe than sorry, I know,” Felipe said. “Come on then.”

Felipinho bounced down the stairs with his jumper over his head just as they were passing. Felipe pulled the jumper down, revealing that it was on back to front, and turned it around before Felipinho put his arms through the sleeves.

“Much better,” he said. “Now, are you going to be a good boy at school today?”

“Uh huh,” Felipinho said.

“Good,” Felipe said, crouching down in front of him. “Because I do not think mama will be very happy if she has to go to talk to your teacher again, will she?”

“No,” Felipinho said.

“Right then,” Felipe said. “Can I get a kiss?”

Felipinho grinned and kissed his father’s cheek before Felipe stood.

“See you later,” Felipe promised, waving goodbye. Dan wasn’t sure if that was going to be true or not.

 

Dan was sure if he had come here alone he would have been late. He would have gotten lost inside the building if it weren’t for Felipe. As it was, there were only a couple of other students waiting in the lecture theatre when Dan arrived, trying to figure out how far forward it was safe to sit. A woman in a sharp, navy blue blazer was stood at the front, telling them it was ok to sit a little closer, and that she wasn’t going to bite. She smiled at Dan as he came in, trying to convince him to sit a little closer to the front, but the Australian found a spot a few rows back from the middle and decided that was where he was going to stay.

Over the course of the next ten minutes, the room got gradually busier and busier as more and more students joined the lecture hall. Eventually, someone had to take the plunge and sit on the front row as the room became more and more crowded. The chair beside Dan remained empty, and Dan decided to dump his bag on it as the trail of students became thinner and thinner.

The clocked ticked over to ten o’clock, when the session was due to start.

“I guess I’ll give it another five minutes for anybody who was partying last night,” the woman at the front of the class said, getting a round of laughs from the students.

Dan had not been partying last night. He hadn’t been partying any night. He was sure Raffaela had been dropping him hints about getting out and making friends, but Dan wasn’t sure Fresher’s week was the right place for making friends. He wasn’t very good when it came to alcohol, and he didn’t think he would make many friends absolutely wasted. Then there was the fact he was absolutely broke, and there was no way he was accepting money from the Massas to go out and get drunk and embarrass himself. He could live without Fresher’s week.

“Well, I guess we’ll get started then,” the woman said after the five minutes were up. “I’m Claire Williams. I’m head of the physics department’s pastoral services which means I’m going to be looking after you guys and organising your pastoral tutors and everything. And running your induction day, apparently. I’ve been dropped in on this last minute because the person who was supposed to be doing this is sick, so you’ll have to bear with me.”

Claire clasped her hands together and grinned, apparently surprised that things were working so well so far. She hurried to the side where the laptop linked to the projector was set up, just as the door at the back of the theatre opened again.

A couple of heads, including Dan’s, turned and watched as a boy hurried down the steps at the side of the room, panic clear on his face. He stopped a couple of rows down from Dan’s searching for a seat, before returning to Dan’s row.

“Do you mind?” he whispered in a thick French accent.

“No, sure,” Dan said, moving his bag and letting the student sit.

“Alright then,” Claire said, once the power point she had prepared was up and running. “Welcome to the Physics Department. It’s great to see so many people here today. Cleary Fresher’s Week hasn’t killed too many of you off just yet. So, today. Today we’re going to go through loads of boring safety stuff, introduce you to your pastoral tutors, run a quick tour of the building so you _hopefully_ don’t get lost and introduce you to some important staff members. Alright then. Now, we should be doing the safety talk now but…” Claire stood on her toes, peering at the back of the room. “But it looks like our safety officer is running a little late, so do you want to do a short question and answer session whilst we wait.”

Everybody sat in silence when Claire stopped talking, nobody wanting to be the first one to speak. Dan’s mind had suddenly gone blank and he knew he’d had questions before he set out that morning, but he couldn’t remember what any of them were now.

“Or you can talk amongst yourselves whilst I find out where the safety officer is,” Claire suggested, getting a murmur of approval from the hall of students. Quickly, she slipped down the side of the lecture theatre and out of the doors at the back of the room.

The boy beside Dan let out a relieved breath.

“Cannot believe I was late to the first class,” he said as the volume in the room increased.

“You didn’t miss much,” Dan said. “Her name’s Claire and she doesn’t normally do this. That’s it.”

“Alright,” the boy said, settling back in the chair. “Jean-Eric, by the way. You can call me Jev.”

“Dan,” Dan said, shaking the boy’s hand. “You can call me Dan.”

Jev grinned and shook his head, running a hand through his hair and calming down a little now he knew he hadn’t missed anything.

“What halls are you staying in?” Jev asked.

“I’m not in halls,” Dan said.

“You do not live around here,” Jev said, suspiciously. He clearly wasn’t English himself, but he didn’t believe Dan was either.

“No,” Dan said. “I’m staying with one of the lecturers. Yeah, class dork, I guess.”

“Oh,” Jev said. “I applied for that but I did not get it.”

“Shame,” Dan said. “What are halls like?”

“Not bad,” Jev said. “Although the kitchen now smells of puke because some people have never drunk before, it would seem.”

His face screwed up in disgust, making Dan laugh. The laugh made a couple of the other students around them turn to stare at them. Jev just grinned.

“Right then,” Claire said, hurrying back into the room and bringing a man with her. “Christian Horner, our safety officer, would like to talk to you about not using the electromagnets without supervision and getting a proper keyboard for your laptops.”

 

The safety talk was long and boring and Dan was sure he must have fallen asleep at one point, but Jev poked him awake before he could miss too much. A register sheet had been sent around the room, just to confirm everyone had listened to the safety talk, and Horner was already slipping down the side of the theatre to make his escape.

“One hour down, how many more to go?” Dan mumbled. He’d thought life at university would be a little more interesting than this, but he guessed it _was_ just the safety talk. They were never very interesting.

“Alright so,” Claire came back to the front, fiddling with the power point until it was where she wanted it to be. “We’ll move into the tutorial groups. You should have received an email with the name of your tutor before coming here today. Is that right?”

Silence. Dan didn’t remember getting any email, but there was always a chance it had slipped through… No. Judging by the look on Jev’s face, he hadn’t gotten any such email either. Claire sighed when she realised nobody had received any such email.

“Hold on a second,” she said, closing the power point and turning off the projector to work on the laptop. “I don’t… normally… do… this…”

“So,” Dan said, figuring he might as well make conversation with the boy he was sat beside. “Was this your first choice?”

“Yeah,” Jev said, smiling. “Best place for physics.”

“That’s what I thought,” Dan said, grinning. “They do, like, internships for the summer and stuff. I want in on that.”

“There,” Claire said, standing and smiling again. She switched the projector on again, showing six lists of names. “Your tutorial groups. As you can see, all the tutor groups have a room attached to them, where you’re supposed going to now. But ignore all those room numbers, because they’re all wrong. Most of you will be meeting your tutors today. Unless your tutor is Rob Smedley, because he is… otherwise occupied today.”

Dan scanned the list, looking for his name, and found it under the list for the tutor Franz Tost. Surprisingly, Jev’s name was listed a few below him in the same list.

“Alright,” Claire said. “Outside the second year students should be waiting to show you to the right room. If you’re in my tutorial group, wait in here. I think that’s the simplest thing to do.”

“Shall we go?” Dan said, grinning at his new friend.


	7. Tost and a Tour

“I’m not here to tell you to do your homework or to go to lectures,” Tost said, leaning against a desk at the front of the room. “I’m not going to chance you up if you don’t go to lab sessions or you don’t come to tutorials. What I am going to do is be here if you have any questions or problems, or if you are struggling for whatever reason in your classes.”

“He seems like a happy man,” Dan muttered to Jev. The two of them had taken a spot near the back of the small classroom they’d been put in. There were only a few other people in their tutor group, so they couldn’t really hide themselves, but this was still Dan’s first chance to get to know people.

“Right, so, I’ve been told to give you this,” Tost said, handing out a thick booklet of stapled together papers to each student. “It’s your reading list. Don’t worry. You will not need all of these books. The ones with stars next to them are essential reading. Everything else is for your leisure.”

Dan’s eyes grew comically wide as he looked through the booklet of books. Almost every one seemed to be stared, and he knew the prices on these weren’t going to be low. Felipe hadn’t been kidding when he’d spoken about the reading list.

“Shit,” Dan whispered.

Beside him, Jev seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Some of the books aren’t needed until your second semester,” Tost said, going back to lean against the desk at the front of the classroom. “You’re probably better off getting those over the Christmas break. There might be a sale on.”

He laughed, but none of the students found the remark funny in the slightest.

“This is going to cost me half my loan,” Dan muttered.

 

“Right then!”

Dan jumped at the familiar accent, looking up from his conversation with Jev to the tour guide, one of the postgrad students who worked in the faculty.

“My name’s Mark,” the student said. “I’m going to show you guys around. Yell if I walk too fast and you need to catch up or if you can’t hear me.”

Dan couldn’t stop himself grinning as the tour group set off down one of the corridors leading away from the waiting area they had all been sat in. It felt like a little bit of home and, as much as he _hated_ home, he did miss it a little.

“I take it you haven’t had a tour before,” Jev said to Dan.

Dan shook his head. “I did the virtual tour.”

“Me too,” Jev said. They’d already established that neither of them had come over to visit the university before applying. It was a big step into the unknown and, so far, the unknown seemed pretty good.

It probably would have been a good idea, Dan thought, to pay attention to Mark as he showed them various facilities the physics department had on offer. He really hoped they didn’t have some kind of quiz on this at the end, though, because he could barely stay calm for long enough to listen to a word his fellow Australian said…

“This is so cool,” Dan whispered, getting a couple of laughs from the other people in the tour group when his whisper wasn’t quite as quiet as he thought it was.

“I guess it is,” Mark said, laughing along. “Here is the physics department library.”

The group stopped outside another set of glass doors, the first years peering into the library inside.

“You’ll find all the books on that giant reading list you were given in there,” Mark said. “There’s the big library further down the road, but they won’t have as many copies as they do in here. And it’s not so easy to find stuff. You’ll have a library induction at some point in the term. Is everyone finished looking at books? Let’s go then.”

Mark marched on again, not waiting for the class of first years to follow him. The students hurried after him.

“The library is open every day, from about eight in the morning until nine at night, but if you’re nice to the librarian they might let you stay a little later during the exam time,” Mark said, grinning to himself.

“How nice do you suppose you have to be to the librarian?” Jev said, quietly, hoping Mark wouldn’t hear.

“The librarian is very likable,” Mark called back to them, not turning around. “You shouldn’t have any problem with him.”

Jev smirked, leaving Dan feeling like he’d missed something entirely.

Mark showed them the physics students’ common room next, complete with careers brochures which they “wouldn’t need until second year, really” and microwave in case anybody ever felt peckish and couldn’t be bothered to go back home.

“During second and third year, you might find yourself hanging out a lot here,” Mark said. “It’s a nice relaxing environment for studying or sitting quietly between lectures when everything gets a bit busy.”

The tour took them next out of the building and across the pedestrian area to the research offices Raffaela had shown him before.

“Now, you won’t come in here a lot,” Mark said, taking his ID card and pressing it against the pad at the side of the door, waiting for the light to go green before opening the door. “This is all the research offices. But this is where you’ll find your tutors most of the time, so it’s worth showing you around.”

The tour group traipsed up the stair case whilst Mark insisted that, if they had any questions, they could just ask at any time.

“Right then,” Mark said, coming to a stop at the top of the stair case. His voice had dropped a little, not wanting to disturb anybody who was working up here. “You guys probably know all about the research tasks the university takes part in. This is where the people working on those are based. So these guys are the ones you have to suck up to.”

The class laughed quietly, but Dan made a mental note to follow that advice. He didn’t care what he had to do, really. He’d do it.

“So,” Mark said, leading them along the corridor. “You guys are in Tost’s tutorial group, yeah? This is his office… _here_.”

He jerked a thumb to the office as they passed it.

Dan looked up at the names on the office doors as he passed them. Most of them were people he’d never heard of, though he recognised some from the tutorial group lists.

“This is Claire’s office,” Mark said. “Claire’s another one you should stay on the right side of. She does all the pastoral care stuff and she writes the best references. Keep that in mind. And these guys are just some of the research guys. Who are probably working now, so we won’t stop here.”

Dan tried to make a mental note of all the names, following Mark’s sucking up advice, and grinned when he spotted Felipe’s. He was certain his accommodation arrangements would go some way in to getting him onto one of the research projects.

“Some of these guys will be your lecturers,” Mark said. “And there’ll be some in maths as well, but I can’t get access to the maths offices and they’re not really that important.”

Mark took them down the staircase at the other end of the offices and back out of the building.

“I guess most of you did the tour before you applied to the uni,” he said, leading the students back around to the pond at the front of the building. “But, if not, is there anything anybody would like me to show them?”

Dan looked around the small tour group, waiting for someone else to say something. Between them, Mark and Raffaela had covered everything Dan could have wanted to know, and now all he was interested in was when he was going to be able to get some food.

“Right then,” Mark said, when nobody spoke. “I’ll show you where you have to go after lunch and then take you to the Food Plaza.”

 

“As good as you expected it to be?” Dan asked, when he and Jev had finally found a free table to sit at.

Jev nodded, not waiting for Dan to start before he dug into the pizza he had brought. Dan was still living off of the Massas’ kindness, and trying to keep a track of everything he was buying so he could pay them back if they did end up wanting the money.

“Just hope this is not all too good to be true,” Jev said when he’d swallowed what was in his mouth. “Have learned to not get my hopes up so much.”

“Oh?” Dan said, not sure what to say.

Jev shrugged and took another bite of the pizza whilst Dan made a start on the chips he’d brought.

“Is not my first university,” Jev explained. “Was somewhere else last year. It looked good to begin with, but turned out to be not so good.”

He smiled again and shrugged as if it didn’t matter.

“That sucks,” Dan said, not wanting to pry too deeply. “I’m sure you’ve got nothing to worry about here though.”

After the tour, Dan had gotten himself excited about starting university again, something he hadn’t really expected to happen sitting through Horner’s boring safety talk. Now he couldn’t wait for Monday to come around, when he’d actually be starting lessons.

“I hope so,” Jev said.

“It’ll be great,” Dan insisted, grinning and making the Frenchman’s smile widen. “You didn’t have me at your last university.”

“And you are going to make this one better?” Jev asked.

“Well, I am pretty awesome.”

 

After lunch, the students headed back to the physics building, where their tutors were ready to ask any final questions before the induction was over. There were still a few things that needed to be gone over with the first years, but that could wait until the first week of time tabled lessons, according to Tost, who didn’t seem to be able to get the students out of his classroom soon enough.

“That weren’t too bad,” Dan said, grinning, as he left the building again. It was fairly sunny outside, but Dan still wasn’t convinced he would able to call the weather warm. Jev laughed at the way Dan had his fleece zipped up to his chin and his hands shoved into his pockets as he tried to remember which way was home. He didn’t have a lift back, Felipe working later than his induction had finished. Which mean The Walk.

“What are you doing now?” Jev asked.

“Dunno,” Dan said. He had nothing planned for when he got home, and they hadn’t been given any work to do during their induction.

“Do you… do you want to go to the pub?” Jev asked. There was a bar on campus for students. Dan was yet to check it out, but he knew it wasn’t a club or anything like that. It didn’t sound like that bad an offer. Except…

“I’ve not got any money,” Dan admitted.

“Your loan has not come through yet either?” Jev asked. Dan shook his head. “My parents have given me a little money until that comes through,” he said. “What are you living off? Do you have food?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dan said, laughing at how worried Jev got for a moment. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Right,” Jev said, nodding. “Well, when your loan comes through, we’ll go and have drinks to celebrate, yes?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Dan said, waving to Jev as he began the walk back to his lecturer’s house. Or what he _hoped_ was his lecturer’s house.


	8. Missing

Felipinho knew the teachers were looking for him. The teaching assistant, who was always sat in the cloak room with him when the teacher had to look for mama, had just walked past his hiding place, calling for him, but he didn’t move, curling up a little tighter and shoving his thumb between his teeth.

He’d tried to be a good boy. He really, _really_ had. But it was really hard too. He didn’t want the teacher to have to talk to mama again, because that would mean getting into trouble again and making mama sad, and he didn’t want that to happen. Which was why he had been being good.

And then Amy had ruined it…

“He can’t have disappeared…”

Felipinho made himself as small as he could. Maybe he could just stay here until home time and sneak away when the teachers weren’t looking. He was good at sneaking.

He hadn’t meant to be naughty, but he had been playing with the dollies. He only had two, and there were lots more in the box. They weren’t _Amy’s_ dollies. They were for everybody, and that meant him too.

He didn’t like playing with Amy. She said nasty things. Like she said to the teachers that he hit her, when he hadn’t. She told lies and mama said that was naughty, but it was always _him_ getting told off, never Amy.

That was why he was hiding.

It wasn’t fair. He didn’t even want to play with the dollies, not really. But there was nothing else to play with and playing games by yourself was boring. Everything was boring. He wanted to play football, but that wasn’t allowed inside either.

“Felipinho, come on. We need to have a little chat.”

That’s what they always said. Felipinho sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of the hand that wasn’t in his mouth. He didn’t like their little chats. That’s what they said when they were going to tell him off. They never listened when he told them that he was a good boy. Now he didn’t even try.

“Have you checked in the toilets?”

The teaching assistant and the teacher stopped right outside Felipinho’s hiding place. He held his breath, waiting for them to go away.

“I checked in the toilets. He’s not there. Or in the cloak room.”

“He can’t have disappeared.”

“You’ve already said that…”

“There’s always one trouble maker, Julie. They’re just not normally so good at hiding…”

Felipinho screwed up his nose, glaring at his teacher’s feet. He was _not_ a trouble maker. He was _not_ naughty. It wasn’t fair. They always thought Amy was telling the truth and not him, even though she was a liar. And the other children. They were all liars and he hated school, but mama said he had to go and he really didn’t want her to be sad anymore.

Felipinho sniffled a little, trying to not cry, but if wasn’t working.

The teacher and the teaching assistant both stopped talking, then one of the pairs of legs bent until the teacher was crouched down, peering into Felipinho’s hiding space. Felipinho curled up a little more, tears spilling from his eyes.

The teacher sighed. “Well, at least we found you now.”

 

Felipinho held on tightly to the little red card he’d been given, sitting quietly in the corner whilst the rest of the class went out for playtime. It wasn’t long until the end of the day – he was watching the clock and waiting for the big hand to get back to the twelve – and then the teacher would send all the other children home. And he would have to sit in the cloak room again, and wait for mama to talk to the teacher.

The teacher was tidying up after indoor play whilst the teaching assistant was outside with the other children. She wasn’t looking at Felipinho, and he was sure he would be able to sneak out of the classroom without her looking. That _would_ be being naughty, but they already thought he was naughty – a _trouble maker_ – anyway. At least if he snuck out, he wouldn’t be told off. Maybe he could go all the way home. Then mama wouldn’t even have to come and see the teacher.

As quietly as he could, Felipinho slid off of the chair, carefully placing his red card down on top of it. The teacher didn’t look his way, too busy with tidying up the mess all the other children had made. He watched her as he backed out of the room, not wanting to be caught and get in even more trouble, but she still wasn’t looking at him when he slid out of the classroom door…

 

By the time Dan finally made it back to the house – only getting lost a _couple_ of times – Raffaela was leaving, a lot more urgently than she had left any of the other times Dan had seen her do the school run. Actually… he couldn’t have been _that_ late, could he?

“Is everything ok?” Dan asked when Raffaela almost walked into him, apparently not noticing he was stood there.

“Yeah,” Raffaela said. “I’m sorry, Daniel. I’ve got to go.”

She didn’t even wait for him to answer before rushing down the street towards the school. Dan looked between the house and Raffaela before deciding to jog after Raffaela and try to find out what’s the matter.

“What’s wrong?” Dan asked. “Can I help?”

Raffaela laughed a little and shook her head, not slowing down in the slightest. “Felipinho has gone missing.”

“ _Missing_?” Dan repeated. He was at school. How could he have gone missing?

Raffaela nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. Why was it always her? Why couldn’t they go one week without Felipinho deciding the rules didn’t apply to him? All the other children had settled down, their parents forming friendships based on their children’s. But not Felipinho. No. They couldn’t wait until he settled down on his own. It had only been a matter of time before he ran off and he could be _anywhere_ by now. They needed to get this sorted out today.

“Is there anything I can do?” Dan asked, even though he couldn’t think of anything.

Raffaela shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. She knew Dan was just trying to help, but it wasn’t him she needed here, it was Felipe.

“Could you phone Felipe?” Raffaela asked, suddenly realising Dan could be useful. “Tell him to go the school and make sure he knows it’s important. It’s time he started acting like Felipinho is his son too.”

“What?”

“Nothing,” Raffaela said, quickly. Getting angry wasn’t going to find Felipinho. “Just make sure he’s at the school. Thank you Daniel. You are a life saver.”

 

Felipe arrived at the school almost half an hour later and was rushed into the empty lunch room where his wife was sat with a police officer and Felipinho’s class teacher. The teacher stood as he burst in, offering a hand to shake with Felipe, but Felipe ignored her.

“Where is he?” he asked, sliding onto the stool beside Raffaela’s and putting an arm around his wife. Raffaela had tears rolling down her face now. Felipinho had been missing for nearly an hour now and there was no sign of him. Anybody could have taken him.

“We don’t know,” the police woman said. “We have officers looking for him now. We’ll find your son.”

Felipe shook his head, jabbing a finger into the table they were sat at but it was no use. He didn’t know what to say or what to think. Getting into an argument with the police officer wasn’t going to help.

“What can I do?”

“Is there anywhere you can think of Felipinho would go to?” the police woman asked, like she had asked Raffaela before. “Somewhere he would hide?”

“I… I don’t know,” Felipe said, quietly.

“Of course not,” Raffaela said bitterly.

Felipe rolled his eyes, but didn’t reply. This wasn’t the time, nor the place, for this argument, and he doubted there would be anything new to say anyway.

“That’s alright,” the police woman said. “He can’t have gone far. We’ll find him.”

“How did he get out?” Felipe asked the teacher, who had been very quiet since Felipe had arrived.

She held out her hands, no idea how to explain. “He was sat in the naughty corner whilst I tidied up at playtime. I don’t know how he got out.”

“Naughty corner?” Felipe repeated. Well, that explained why he had run off. “Why is he always in trouble, hmm? Why is it always him? Think maybe you are picking on him.”

“Felipe, not now,” Raffaela hissed, trying not to die of embarrassment. Maybe asking Felipe to come to the school hadn’t been such a good idea. He was only going to make things worse, if that was even possible.

“Mr Massa, as I have explained to your wife,” the teacher said, carefully. “We believe Felipinho might have some behavioural problems which encourage him to act the way he does.”

“My son does not have any problems,” Felipe said. “ _You_ just do not teach him properly. Is a good little boy at home.”

“Felipe, not now,” Raffaela said through gritted teeth.

“No,” Felipe said. “Am sick of it. Am sick of them making you think we have done something wrong when we have not. Is clearly there fault and-.”

Felipe’s rant was cut short by his phone ringing. Raffaela almost rolled her eyes when he pulled the mobile from his pocket. Of course. Because there was nothing more important than work. Never mind the fact that they might never see their son again…

“Dan?” Felipe answered, surprised to find the new student phoning him again. “He’s there?”


End file.
